Published: December 28, 2007

TRENTON -- A strike by members of the union that cleans office buildings would cut across several walks of life in Mercer County, including government, corporate and commercial properties.

More than 500 members of Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union work in Mercer County, according to spokeswoman Lynsey Kryzwick. They clean office buildings for Merrill Lynch in Hopewell Township, the Quaker Bridge Mall in Lawrence, the Carnegie Center in West Windsor, the Department of Transportation and the Capital Center in Trenton, and Bristol-Myers Squibb, which has several area locations, including Lawrence and Hopewell Township as well as Plainsboro in Middlesex County.

Most of those workers earn about $9.75 an hour, according to Local 32BJ, which represents approximately 7,000 employees in 450 buildings throughout the state.

A spokeswoman for Quaker Bridge Mall said yesterday mall officials would have no comment on what the mall would do if a strike occurs. Spokespeople for other Mercer locations could not be reached late yesterday.